Ukraine Crisis: 'Eight Killed' In Ambush In East -- BBC
Seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in an ambush in the eastern Donetsk region, reports say.
A unit was attacked near the town of Kramatorsk by about 30 heavily-armed rebels, the defence ministry said. One rebel is also said to have died.
Correspondents say this is the most serious loss of life for the government in its operation against separatists.
Donetsk is one of two regions declared separate from Ukraine after referendums deemed illegal by Kiev, the US and EU.
The defence ministry said an armoured personnel carrier carrying paratroopers was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade and exploded.
Read more ....
More News On Seven Ukrainian Soldiers Being Killed In An Ambush By Pro-Russian Separatists In The Eastern Donetsk Region
Seven Ukrainian soldiers killed in separatist ambush -- Reuters
Seven Ukrainian soldiers killed in ambush -- The Telegraph
Ukraine crisis: 6 soldiers killed in ambush by insurgents -- CBC/AP
Six Ukrainian soldiers killed in Donetsk ambush -- The Guardian
Separatists ambush Ukrainian troops; German foreign minister seeks talks in Kiev -- Washington Post
Seven Ukrainian Troops Killed In Kramatorsk -- SKY News
Ukraine: 6 Soldiers Killed In Ambush -- CNN
Soldiers killed in east Ukraine 'ambush' -- Al Jazeera
6 Soldiers Killed in E. Ukraine Ambush -- VOA
My Comment: It is news stories like this one that scares me the most. Because of conscription .... everyone in Ukraine has had some degree of military training. Everyone knows how to use military equipment. And while everyone does not have weapons .... everyone knows where they can get such supplies. And with tensions and animosities escalating throughout eastern Ukraine .... it was only a matter of time before some in the region would start to resist by organizing and launching attacks against what they now see are occupying forces. My take is that after this weekend's referendum and yesterday's Ukrainian artillery bombardment of the eastern city Of Slaviansk .... red lines have been crossed and everyone is now gearing for war.
The focus from the Western media has always been on the possibility of a guerrilla/insurgency war breaking out if Russia should invade Ukraine. There has been little (if any) coverage on the possibility of an insurgency war breaking out between Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian parts of eastern Ukraine. But after today .... there is a now a very good chance that a Ukrainian insurgency war/civil war is on.
The Ukrainian government and the West are blaming Russia for what happened today .... but anyone who knows anything about this part of the world knows that this has (and is) a bitter internal Ukrainian fight between two different groups who no longer see eye to eye. My prediction .... this can go either way .... and a part of me is still betting that this months Ukrainian Presidential elections would bring about a new government that would in turn bring about new policies of reconciliation. But the interim Ukrainian government in still in power and they have been a disaster since day one on treating it's Russian minorities .... and I expect them to continue with this foolhardy policy until the election. By then .... regardless of who gets elected .... it may be too late.
4 comments:
Like I said before, considering how all this is set up an insurgency going the other way (against the Ukraine forces) was much more likely. The anti-ukrainian forces now have a irreplaceable card in their hand, inviolate close at hand sanctuary. There are many dimensions to this, too many to discuss now, but here's one to consider. Lets say this becomes a proxy conflict (already is but another time) between Russia and the West and we consider military supply. For anti-Ukrainian forces it's literally right there with no international oversight or critical press coverage, only one border to cross. Now Ukrainian supply from the West. How many borders must it cross, duties paid, government with hands out for hush money, transference between different means of transportation? How can this been done on the sly, if at all? To those who would say "so what, just be open about it, what are the Russians going to do about it"? Well think about it, alot. Enough blathering for the moment.
You were one of the first to warn about this James. So blather all you want .... you are doing better than most (if not all) of the main stream media.
I have two questions and a dark comment.
The questions are (1) I understand that people in eastern Ukraine who are loyal to Kiev are physically indistinguishable from those who would like to join Russia. Is that correct?
(2) The people in eastern Ukraine who are loyal to Kiev are physically intermingled (where they work and live) with those who would like to join Russia. Is that correct?
If those understandings are right, then I don't see a an effective way to limit a civil war, once one really starts, from descending into a sort of ethnic cleansing of the type performed in Bosnia, Serbia, etc. That result is horrible to contemplate from a humanitarian perspective.
A Bosnian/Serbian type civil war is also horrendous to whichever government controls eastern Ukraine while the war rages. Whether Russia or Ukraine controls that territory during such a war, their soldiers will be attacked by at least one of the sides. The infrastructure and the economy of the region will be damaged, and likely emerge from the war in a shambles, whoever wins. This will make sovereignty over the region costly both in blood and money.
From this perspective, I understand why Russia would stay out, at least while the war rages. Why would Russia want to sustain human casualties and financial liability for the wreckage?
For the same reasons, I would also think that the Kiev Government would go to great lengths to avoid such a war.
I wonder how much popular support the militants on both sides really have among ordinary people in eastern Ukraine. One reads sometimes that ordinary people do not want such a war, but the articles do not say how numerous or assertive they are.
I guess the best way to explain the situation in Ukraine is to look at Northern Ireland.
When I first heard of the troubles in Northern Ireland about 30 40 years ago .... I said why are they fighting. They speak English and they all look alike. They work together. Some play together. And I am also sure that most (on both sides) were against the conflict. But a sectarian war was the result .... and it lasted a long time.
Ukraine is like that. Two different religions (Catholic and Russian Orthodox). Two languages. Two distinct territories. And .... like Norther Ireland .... a bad history.
I know that 99% of the people in Ukraine do not want an armed conflict .... unfortunately .... there are many who do.
Case in point .... I read that in Northern Ireland the IRA had a core groups of about 300 .... plus a few thousand active sympathizers .... plus the non-violent support of much of the Catholic community. But this was enough to tie down a quarter of the British Army for years.
In Ukraine .... all of these numbers are bigger .... and the region in question is in every way massive and perfect for an insurgency (as the Nazis learned in World War II).
This is why I am mad at the interim Ukrainian government .... and the U.S. government's shortsightedness in providing unconditional verbal support but very little if any substantive support (in the form of financial aid and credits). This could have all been avoided .... but they choose to aggravate the east and position Putin to just step in and take advantage of it. And now we are at the precipice of a very bad situation that will probably result in the dismemberment of Ukraine.
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